OLYMPICS; Olympics Committee Ends Its Ban On Participation by South Africa

Satisfied that South Africa has committed itself to abolishing discrimination in sports, the International Olympic Committee today lifted a 21-year-long ban on the nation, allowing its athletes to compete in the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain.

The decision was announced here this afternoon by Juan Antonio Samaranch of Spain, president of the I.O.C., who said, "I have decided today to proclaim the outright recognition of the National Olympic Committee of South Africa." Ripple Effect?

The move formally clears the way for South Africa to participate in all Olympic events and is expected to lead to renewed international participation by South Africa in other, non-Olympic sports, like rugby and cricket, from which it has been banned because of its past policies of racial segregation.

South African leaders were gratified by the I.O.C.'s decision, saying it showed that the world was taking seriously President F. W. de Klerk's efforts to dismantle the legal underpinnings of apartheid. But some sports officials worried that because of the country's decades of isolation in sports, many athletes would be unlikely to perform at world standards in the 1992 Games. One sports federation, the South African Council on Sport, strongly criticized the move, saying that millions of black South Africans lack basic rights of citizenship. [ Page B10. ] Move in Washington?

The sports ban on South Africa was by far the longest boycott of that country by the international community, preceding other commercial and political boycotts that have piled up over the years in an attempt to force South Africa to abandon racism as official policy. In fact, the I.O.C.'s decision today coincides with reports from Washington indicating that President Bush is prepared to lift trade sanctions that were imposed against South Africa in 1986.

The decision announced today was based on a recommendation from the Apartheid and Olympism Commission, set up by the I.O.C. in 1988 with the participation of black African officials, to examine circumstances under which South Africa might be admitted to the Games.

One member of the commission, Keba Mbaye, a Senegalese jurist, said that while the commission members thought that South Africa was well on its way to abolishing discrimination in sports, the commission is also hoping to encourage further reforms in opening the nation's sports training sites, competitions and financial resources to all races.

He warned that today's decision could be reversed if patterns of discrimination against nonwhite athletes emerge either in team selection processes or in the use of training sites.

Francois Carrard of Switzerland, who is director general of the I.O.C., said: "This decision is unambiguous. It says that South Africa has grown up and should take these decisions now more and more in its hands, as it is on the right track."

South Africa was expelled from Olympic competition by the I.O.C. in 1970 because of the country's policies of racial discrimination against non-whites. But it has not competed in the Olympics since the 1960 Summer Games in Rome, because of threats of boycotts in 1964 and 1968 by African nations and countries in the Soviet bloc. The 1972 Olympics in Munich and the 1976 Games in Montreal were threatened with boycotts by African nations protesting the participation of countries who had had sports relations with South Africa.

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In 1977, the United Nations and the British Commonwealth imposed their own bans on sporting relationships with South Africa. As a result, South African athletes have been unwelcome in virtually all international competition, including the sports that are most popular with South Africa's residents: soccer, rugby and cricket.

Some South African athletes, however, were able to compete in the Olympics after gaining citizenship in other countries, including Zola Budd (Britain) and Sydney Maree (United States) in 1984.

Today's decision is an outgrowth of a five-day visit in March to South Africa by a delegation from the I.O.C., led by Mr. Mbaye. The delegation, which met then with President de Klerk, set two principal conditions for the readmission of South Africa into the Olympic community: the abolition of apartheid and progress toward racial integration and unity in the nation's sports federations. Big Move on June 17

The first condition was essentially fulfilled on June 17, when the South African Parliament abolished the Population Registration Act, which classified all South Africans by race from birth and essentially laid the legal foundation for apartheid. Three other laws on racial exclusion, which governed where people could live and own property and which public accommodations they could use, have been abolished in the last year.

The second condition has been addressed with the creation of the interim National Olympic Committee.

Andrew Young, a former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and a member of the commission that looked into lifting the ban, said here today that some sports federations in South Africa are now mixed in racial makeup. He added that he expected that international sports federations would begin to accept membership of South Africa's sports federations.

Although the creation of multiracial sports federations has been accomplished in some sports, like soccer, critics still argue that sports facilities available for blacks remain inferior to those enjoyed by whites. Mr. Carrard the director general of the I.O.C., said today that it would be up to South Africa to continue desegregating all sports federations so as "to really open them up to all -- not just rich whites or people for one race or another."

The most popular sports in South Africa, rugby and cricket, are played primarily by whites. Among blacks, soccer is the most popular sport. An integrated South African Football Association was recently formed, and it is likely to apply to join the world governing body of soccer after today's decision.

The African National Congress, the major black anti-apartheid movement, has long opposed the lifting of sanctions against South Africa, arguing that pressure has to be maintained to encourage further dismantling of the apartheid laws, but last weekend, it softened its stance somewhat, saying it would accept a phased ending to international measures.

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A version of this article appears in print on July 10, 1991, on Page A00001 of the National edition with the headline: OLYMPICS; Olympics Committee Ends Its Ban On Participation by South Africa. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe